What is Hong Kong Cultural Policy (1)

For many years, the Hong Kong cultural circle has said that the Hong Kong government has not developed culture and has no long-term cultural policy.

According to the online Wikipedia:

Policy refers to a plan established by a government, agency, organization, or individual to achieve goals. A policy consists of a series of planned and organized actions or activities. The process of implementing a policy involves understanding and formulating possible options, setting an agenda or prioritizing spending, and then choosing actions to take considering their impact. Policies can function in political, managerial, financial and administrative structures to achieve various goals.

As for culture:

Culture refers to the spiritual wealth created by human beings, such as literature, art, education, science, courtesy, festivals, etc. In archaeology, it refers to the complex of remains and relics from the same historical period. The same tools, utensils, manufacturing techniques, etc. are characteristic of the same culture. Sometimes culture refers to civilization.

Hong Kong has records of human activities as far back as the Neolithic Age. The descendants of Wen Tianxiang migrated to Hong Kong at the end of the Song Dynasty, but the real historical records should start from the Qing Dynasty. The real development of Hong Kong was in the 1970s and 1990s during the British colonial period. Because of the political problems in the mainland, many people and families with capital and ability emigrated from the mainland in the 1950s and 1960s, bringing a lot of capital and talents to Hong Kong. So the real "Renaissance" in Hong Kong was mainly during this period. In the collection of the Hong Kong Museum of Art, you will find Chinese and Western art mainly from the late Qing Dynasty to the present. Therefore, the cultural history of Hong Kong is relatively shallow compared to London, New York and Shanghai.

Hong Kong's cultural policy is governed by the government department Home Affairs Bureau (abbreviated as Home Affairs Bureau; English: Home Affairs Bureau, abbreviation: HAB) is one of the decision-making bureaus of the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, responsible for recreation, culture, gaming, civic education, youth policy , property management, consumer rights, regional administration, and regulation of hotels, clubs, bedspace apartments, entertainment venues, etc., such as: formulating the use of under-authorized management venues (during the COVID-19 epidemic, many fast food restaurants were homeless overnight They have lost their place to live. Legislative Council Social Welfare Member Shao Ka-chen and several district councillors have repeatedly sent letters to the Secretary for Home Affairs, Lau Kong-wah, and relevant government departments, requesting the Home Affairs Department and the Leisure and Cultural Services Department to open temporary shelters. Fang replied and refused, reiterating that under the current mechanism, the temporary shelter center mechanism is only open in inclement weather, and the department's policy does not include provision of temporary housing for the homeless. The Director Liu Konghua and officials from his departments also refused. Meeting to discuss relevant issues. Shao Jiazhen and Tai Po District Councillor Tam Erpei criticized the government for handling bureaucratic affairs without considering the feelings of the homeless people who were expelled.)

The history of the establishment of the Home Affairs Bureau is not discussed in detail. In the British colonial era, the Home Affairs Bureau was originally called the General Registrar's Office. It was established in 1844. The General Registrar's Office also has jurisdiction over all Chinese organizations. It is the main channel for the Governor of Hong Kong to communicate directly with the local Chinese in Hong Kong. It is responsible for assisting the Hong Kong government in commenting on the tendencies of Chinese public opinion, providing consultation for Chinese, and providing advice on the relationship between government departments and Chinese residents. The chief registrar also serves as the post of Fuhua Road. Therefore, "community building" is an important matter of the Home Affairs Bureau. Community building includes making citizens feel a sense of belonging to the city itself, so the Home Affairs Bureau includes cultural policy matters.

As for the so-called "pie-sharing" era, that is, the government subsidized the development of folk art to supplement the government's mainstream culture and art, it began in 1995 with the establishment of the "Hong Kong Arts Development Council". The Hong Kong Arts Development Council is a statutory body under the Home Affairs Bureau. Established before 1997, the general folks felt that it was to decorate the peace for the 1997 return. For example, in 1990, when East and West Berlin was unified, the German government not only moved the capital here, but also invested a lot of resources in culture, art and architecture. In 2000, the Arts Development Council had rumored to reduce the amount of funding to participate in the killing. But until now, it still works.

(We will talk about community building and community building later)